Rita Ora waited four years for husband Taika Waititi as she makes sweet admission

Rita Ora has revealed she was friends with her husband for more than four years before they got together. The singer, 34, waited a long time before she got together with New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi.

And then she was the one who took the initiative and proposed to him. On how she met him, Rita said: “He made his own success story from New Zealand. And like, both of our parents had breast cancer, you know. That's actually where we originally connected.

“Actually Robert Pattinson is the reason why I met Taika. I don't think I've ever thanked him for it. Thank you. Because it was genuine, like, ‘hey, we're going to a friend's house to have a barbecue.’ Like, I don't think that anyone thought anything of it. And so we get there and we just kicked it off, we sat there for hours in the sun and then it went into night time… bottles of wine later, and we just didn't stop talking. And then we became friends for a very long time. Four-and-a-half years.

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“I mean, we shared each other's relationship stories. We were at parties together where he was with a partner at the time, and I'm like, ‘hey, nice to meet you.’ You know how women love to go to the bathroom together."

She added: "I went to the bathroom with one of his ex-girlfriends at the time… became best friends with them and like, you know, no agenda… And so anyway, long story short, there was no plan, no agenda. There was no idea, no thought of anything. He likes to say that he always fancied me but I never saw it. Never even thought about it.

“But then it all clicked, you know. So much happened in that time. I think it was timing. Like I just turned 30. I was really into changing my lifestyle. Then I opened my mind to introducing myself to someone that has incredible gifts to give me. And that's when I saw it."

The pair began dating in 2021 but having been close before the relationship escalated rapidly and they married in 2022, just weeks after Rita’s proposal.

Speaking on the Begin Again podcast with Davina McCall, Rita explained: “I asked him to marry me. I got the bands made. I didn't want anything too flashy. I got some bands made that have something really personal, attached to them inside that only we know about. And, I just did the whole thing. We were in LA. I rented out a hotel room in Palm Springs or something.

"A really nice fancy one, filled it up with balloons and cake, which is my favorite thing in the world. And heart shaped balloons and a heart shaped cake… So I'm holding the cake. And the balloons are all around us. And he's walking in. He walks into the room and he's like, \what the hell, is it Valentine's Day?’ I'm like, ‘no.’ Anyway, I got down on one knee. I don't want to be boring. I like to keep things as a surprise. I always get so excited for doing things out of the norm.”

Taika shares two daughters, Te Hinekahu and Matewa Kiritapu, with ex-wife Chelsea Winstanley.

And Rita says she enjoys her more mature role as a stepmother. She explained: "I'm like that fairy godmother that gives them all the sugar and all the ice cream and then sends them back.

"And their mother, who I love dearly, is sort of like, 'They're bouncing off the wall.' And I'm like, 'Sorry!' But you know, I think that's the fun part of being a stepmum, you can do those naughty things and I take them out and I take them to an Ed Sheeran concert. I mean, I didn't get a book. There was no one teaching me on how to be a stepmum."

Now 34, Rita has grown up a long way from the young singer who burst onto the scene more than a decade ago with tracks like Hot Right Now. After that she was also a regular on TV shows including The Voice and The Masked Singer as a panel member.

But she continues to celebrate being sexy in photoshoots and doesn’t think women and singers should shy away from this despite some recent backlash.

She explained: "I do feel like we should be proud of those things that we do. And as a woman, I'm seeing it now with Sabrina Carpenter, like her being really attacked for being sexual and in her skin. And I don't get it. It's also so boring, it's such boring news, like Madonna did it. Like guys, at this point if you still have a problem with it, it's really boring.”

Looking ahead, Rita told Davina she would like to be in films more, something her husband may be able to help and guide her about.

She added: “I want to do a lot more movies, I love film and I think my husband's become a big part of that for me. More movies, a lovely great album, a great tour... and then maybe a family... I want to time it right."

* Rita Ora appears on the latest episode of Davina’s Begin Again podcast episode, out today.

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